1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a management apparatus (e.g., a management server) capable of exchanging information with external devices (e.g., image processing apparatuses) via a network, and to a control method of the management apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a management apparatus characterized in a technique of transmitting management information including user information and device information to external devices and a control method of the management apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nowadays, multifunction peripherals used in offices (hereinafter, referred to as image processing apparatuses) begin to incorporate a login function for performing user authentication processing when a user operates them.
Conventionally, the user information to be used in a login function may be stored in a management server connected via a network, or in an image processing apparatus.
If the user information is stored in the management server, the user authentication processing is performed via the network from the image processing apparatus. This is referred to as via-network authentication. On the other hand, if the user information is stored in the image processing apparatus, the image processing apparatus itself performs the user authentication processing without using the management server. This is referred to as local authentication.
The via-network authentication takes longer processing time compared with the local authentication. On the other hand, to perform the local authentication, the image processing apparatus itself needs to store the user information. However, a mass-storage device is necessary to register all pieces of the user information about many users, and an image processing apparatus that is not equipped with such a storage device cannot store all pieces of the user information.
In view of the above-described features, a system is discussed in which user information and device information of image processing apparatuses are stored in a management server, and a part thereof is stored in each image processing apparatus. The system firstly refers to a device inside (i.e. the image processing apparatus), and secondly refers to the management server with respect to the user information for user authentication processing. Therefore, while collectively managing the user information in the management server, a user can use a login function in local authentication at high speed.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-243840 discusses a technique in which a plurality of image processing apparatuses constitute a virtual sub-network, and user information stored in each apparatus can be shared each other and referred to when a login function is executed.
The above-described image processing apparatus has a login unit for logging therein and a login unit for lobbing in the virtual sub-network. The image processing apparatus can refer to the user information that other image processing apparatuses have and perform user authentication processing by the login unit for the virtual sub-network.
As described above, however, even a system that uses the local authentication and the via-network authentication in combination in the login function, a volume of information that can be stored within the image processing apparatus is limited. Particularly, a small-sized image processing apparatus that is not equipped with a mass-storage device has a small storage capacity.
Thus, if the user information to be stored within the image processing apparatus is not optimized for a user who uses the image processing apparatus, the image processing apparatus cannot perform the local authentication.
Accordingly, in order to allow a user to use local authentication at the fastest speed, information stored within an image processing apparatus needs to be optimally updated whenever necessary according to user information and device information.